


Love like fools

by inthebeginningtherewasM



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: And I'm still bad at tagging, Angst, F/M, I'm trying, Pining, RomCom AU, all the tropes and all the clichés, and cheesy, and summary, be prepared, friendship and love and taking care of each other, honestly I love writing this, like all of them - Freeform, the whole shebang, there is also fluff, this is gonna be fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-10-04 22:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17312987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthebeginningtherewasM/pseuds/inthebeginningtherewasM
Summary: It had started out as such a normal day. He had been stuck in traffic, had held a lecture about the second world war and watched his students rolling their eyes about his reference to Captain America. He had had lunch with another faculty member and was accompanied by his TA Daisy to the History Museum. Now Philipp J. Coulson was standing on the steps in front of the museum, staring into empty space like a moron while clutching his phone and wondering what had just happened in the last few minutes.A Philinda RomCom AU. Yes, you read that right.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, sweetpeas!
> 
> I've been watching a lot of romcoms lately with it being Christmas and all and at some point my super-smart brain was thinking **yes, mmmkay, all of those but fOr PHilinDA! O___o**. Which is why we are doing this now. It's been a long time since I've written anything multichapter-wise *cough*several years*cough* and I'm still planning around a lot but I couldn't keep myself from leaving this unposted any longer. I hope you like it.

It had started out as a normal day. He had been stuck in traffic on the way to the university, had held a lecture about the secret experimentation on soldiers in the second world war, had had lunch with another faculty member (Maria, who kept complaining about her Political Science students and how annoying they were) and was accompanied by his TA Daisy to the History Museum.

Phil and Daisy walked through the museum, discussing the curriculum and the coming lectures, talked about research and made fun of some of the exhibitions on display. The museum had always been Phil’s favourite place to get his head clear and get new ideas for future courses and lectures and how to inspire his students. He loved this place. He loved his job, his friends – life was pretty great. There wasn’t really anything he would change about it – well, maybe one thing but those things took time and timing – and he felt good. It made Phil smile while he stepped into the next room.

“Hey, Daisy, what do you think? Should we go and get dinner from this Taiwanese place you like before we get back and look at the lesson- Daisy?”

Daisy wasn’t next to him anymore.

“Daisy? Daisy!”

He turned a few times around himself, but he couldn’t spot her anywhere.

“Daisy, where did you go?”

It wasn’t like she could get lost or hurt herself or anything. She wasn’t a toddler. It was just highly likely that she had run off to argue with the curator of the museum again, making unwanted suggestions about exhibits and annoy the hell out of that man and then he would have to write a long apology letter to make sure they weren’t banned from the museum for a month. Or eternity. Again.

“Damn it, Daisy”, he mumbled and took a peak into another room with a different exhibition and very few people in it. No Daisy.

“Did you lose somebody?”

Phil startled. There was a woman standing next to the wall with the framed news articles from the 1940s, right next to an old propaganda picture of Captain America. (Phil loved that picture, he brought it up in every lecture until his students kept rolling their eyes at him and snickered.)

Phil’s breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful. Dark hair that fell in soft waves over her shoulders, dark eyes that looked at him with concern and a pair of lips he definitely shouldn’t be staring at right now.

“Have you lost your daughter?”

Phil blinked at her as she stepped closer. He was mesmerized somehow. But wait…What?

“I’m sure she cannot have gotten far. I can help you look if you want.”

She had a beautiful voice too. Not too high, melodic. And he should definitely stop gaping at her like some sort of crazy person.

“I- erm, thank you. But- I’m sure she hasn’t gone…far. She knows the museum like the back of her hand.”

The woman nodded.

“Do you take your daughter here often?”

Phil was still staring. He was also very much aware that he should _stop_ staring. Seriously. Stop. It was just that…she was really beautiful. And kind. Because she didn’t even know him and still was offering to help him find his daughter. A daughter he didn’t have. Phil blinked again.

“She’s- Daisy is not really my daughter”, he finally choked out. “She’s my TA.”

The woman looked taken aback. And then her cheeks got an adorable pinkish tint.

“I’m sorry”, she said, obviously embarrassed. “I just assumed-“

“No, no, no! I get it. Daisy is basically like my daughter. I care a lot about her. I always worry. She’s very important to me. And she shouldn’t run around the museum alone. She usually gets in all kinds of trouble.”

He smiled at her what he hoped was a charming smile but probably came off as lopsided and goofy.

“Did you know that comic books were used in World War II to raise domestic caution and awareness?”

The woman gave him a small, confused smile at this change in topic. Phil pointed at the pictures and news articles behind her.

“The pictures you were looking at”, he explained. “Back then they used characters like Captain America to make people aware of American ideals. It was all about togetherness and the nation’s identity and that people should not let the war and foreigners undermine that.”

 

Phil passed the next hour in something like a trance. Well, not exactly. It was just rather unbelievable that this was happening to him. They talked and talked, about the exhibits, about Captain America, about history in general. (Daisy had been temporarily forgotten. He would make a terrible Dad.) Phil was lucky that they had met here, he guessed, being able to tell funny anecdotes about happenings in the past and about things he had heard students saying when he took them on field trips of historical sites or this very museum. His new frie- _acquaintance_ was an attentive listener and laughed even at his bad jokes and Phil was pretty sure he could get addicted to this laugh. She had a wonderful laugh. Melodic and sweet, like chimes at Christmas time and he wondered how it would sound if…gosh, what was he doing? He had met that woman an hour ago and he was already thinking sappy thoughts and he had to reign in his imagination because he would probably not see her again after this day.

That thought made Phil’s throat close up for some reason. He wanted to talk to this woman forever. He stared at his feet while he was walking next to her.

 “This was fun”, she said suddenly, stopping next to him. Phil took in their surroundings for the first time. Apparently they had made their way through the whole exhibition and were now back outside on the top of the steps, where the lights had faded and streetlights were lit and a cool autumn breeze was making him shiver. (Suddenly they were outside? How had that happened? He didn’t even remember opening the door for her. _Had he not opened the door for her?!_ )

Phil stood frozen, his mind racing. She would leave, she would go and he would never see her again.

“I- I am-“

Great, now he was stuttering too? What was happening to him? She looked at him, a small smile on her lips but when he didn’t say anything she pulled up her shoulders and turned away.

“It was very nice meeting you”, she said quietly and made a move to get past him down the steps.

“No, wait!”

He grabbed her hand to keep her from leaving and was promptly rewarded with a small indignant sound and a pair of very pretty eyes with an expression between fear, surprise and anger. Awesome. He let go of her hand as if he had burned himself.

“I’m sorry!”, he yelped, “I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry.”

Now he had done it. Stupid, Phil, so stupid. One didn’t just grab people like that.

“I just- I usually don’t do this. Well, I don’t mean this specifically but well, no, I don’t do this either. I mean, I would never hold a woman against her will. That’s just disgusting. I don’t understand why men would ever keep- but that’s not what I wanted to say. I mean I usually don’t do this. I mean- I mean, I had a really great time and I wanted to ask if maybe if you have time or if you want to or both if- Would you have dinner with me?”

Great, just put your foot in your mouth, Phil. She probably thinks you are a complete and utter idiot now.

He closed his eyes, hunched his shoulders. What had he been thinking? He was a stranger. Why would a woman as beautiful and smart and sweet as her – why would any woman really – just agree to go to dinner with him on a whim? Phil swallowed. Would she laugh at him? Would she hit him with her purse? Would she scream at him? He was such an idiot.

A few seconds nothing happened. Did she leave? Phil opened his eyes. She was still standing there, her head tilted, an eyebrow raised and was obviously trying to suppress a chuckle.

“I’m sorry”, he started, “I shouldn’t have-“

She reached into her purse and fished out a small business card. A card that she handed to him. Phil stared at her.

“I really have to go”, she said, sounding apologetic. “You can call me…about that dinner if you want?”

Phil had the presence of mind to nod. And watch her hurry down the stairs with his mouth agape until somebody behind him snickered.

“Smooth, PC, really smooth. You know, everybody else would probably have run off screaming fire?”

Daisy stepped out of the shadows of the entrance and stood next to him.

“I saw you earlier, talking with her and thought, hey, what do you know”, she grinned. “Who would have thought my professor would actually go and pick up women at the History Museum?”

Phil scoffed as she punched him on the arm, grinning like an imp and almost jumping up and down.

“You got game, PC”, she grinned.

“Shut up, Daisy”, he grumbled, giving her a little shove back towards the building before he turned around and stared at the thin paper rectangle in his hand. He pulled out his phone. Was it creepy to call the number on the card right now? Probably yes. Phil’s thumb hovered over the touchscreen. He frowned.

It had started out as such a normal day. He had been stuck in traffic, had held a lecture about the second world war and watched his students rolling their eyes about his reference to Captain America. He had had lunch with another faculty member, had found another pair of woman’s underwear tied to the antenna of his red corvette (why did people keep doing that?) and was accompanied by his TA Daisy to the History Museum.

Now Philipp J. Coulson was standing on the steps in front of the museum, staring into empty space like a moron while clutching his phone and wondering what had just happened in the last few minutes. Had he really just rambled like the very biggest idiot on the planet and she still… What were the odds? Had he been dreaming with open eyes? And what was he supposed to do now? When should he call her?

Phil sighed and stepped away from the door. The evening air made him shiver but somehow he didn’t really feel cold. Then he opened his contacts and selected a number. There was only one person that would be able to make sense of all this now.

 

“Hey, sorry for bothering you. Listen, May, can we talk? I… I think I might be in love.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muahahaha! So? Is this a promising start? Did you like the twist in the end? Did you see it coming? Tell me what you think, comments are highly appreciated. <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sweetpeas!  
> Sorry for taking so long to update this. Man, this chapter kicked my butt. I wrote three different versions of this because I just wasn't happpy with any of it. I hope you like it.

There were days Melinda May was a hundred percent positive that the universe hated her. The day her parents divorced. The day her first solo mission in the military went sideways. Pretty much every day she was called into Tony Stark’s office. Tuesdays. And today was definitely one of those days too.

Tony Stark had called her into the office to give her an update of all the events he would attend over the next week. (Which was completely redundant since Melinda had a copy of his schedule and organized his security accordingly.) He had also given her information on a new development project in the labs and told her that the value of that research required a higher security. (He could have mailed that.) And he made a lot of stupid remarks and juvenile jokes that made Melinda want to roll her eyes and groan. So much of her time wasted.

Melinda ruffled through a stack of files with a sigh. She didn’t have a problem with paperwork, that was part of the job and had to be done, it was just that not one of the new applicants seemed to come up to her standards. Sure, they were all trained and had some sort of security background but the people who tried to break into Stark Industries were often trained killers and mercenaries and a guy who had worked as mall security would not stand a chance in case of emergency. It also meant that her testing their combat skills tomorrow (which was usually quite fun) would not be any more entertaining than punching a sandbag. Which was a shame.

There was also the matter of the other stack of files, on the right side of her desk. It held the profiles of over two hundred people, all guests that would be invited to Tony Stark's annual gala and she had to do a background check on each of them before the invitations were sent out. Not Melinda's favourite pasttime. But also her job.

She leaned against the back of her swivel chair and stared out the window. The view from Stark Tower was great, no doubt. It was situated in the middle of Manhattan, surrounded by dozens of skyscrapers that reflected the sun from thousands of windows during the day and shone like Christmas lights at night. The streets were busy with cars small as matchboxes and bustling with people tiny as ants. Her office was situated quite high in the tower so she could see lots of blue sky when she lifted her head. Outside the sun had already set and the last of the November sunlight had faded from the sky. The sky was getting dark faster and faster but of course there was too much light from the city for her to see any stars. God, it was getting late. And she would still need hours to finish those files before she could go home and would probably die of boredom in between. That was until the silent alarm got triggered.

 

It was almost eight o'clock when Melinda finally turned the key in the lock of her apartment. It was cool and dark and quiet. Melinda took a deep breath. Her shoulders felt tense, her stomach rumbled and mentally killing the idiot who had accidentally triggered the alarm - which had resulted in a sweep of the Stark tower from top to bottom and Melinda crawling through some air vents where absolutely nothing had turned up - hadn't really helped her with her time management or reduced any of the stress. All she wanted now was a hot shower and maybe some tea before bed.

Melinda dumped her keys and her coat unceremoniously on the floor and stalked into the living room that was connected to the kitchen. Tea. She switched the kettle on, getting a mug out of the cupboard. When she was back from the shower the water would be ready.

Suddenly her phone on the counter lit up and played some obnoxious pop song. Daisy must have played with the customized ringtones of her phone again. Melinda snatched the phone up and held it to her ear.

"Oh my god, May, you'll never guess what happened!"

There was a lot of highpitched incoherent squealing coming from the other side of the line and Melinda held the phone away from her ear, smiling a little.

She was fond of Daisy. Ever since the day a frantic Phil had shown up on her doorstep with a tearstained Daisy in tow - if Melinda ever found this Ward or whatever his name was she would discreetly beat him up, that was a promise - she had somehow slipped into the role of something of a mentor for the younger woman. Melinda taught her self-defence once a week and Daisy called her at all times of the day for advice or just to chat. Sometimes she invited herself over to Melinda's place for breakfast or showed up late at night to crash on her couch.

Right now, Daisy seemed utterly excited to tell her something. Melinda sighed. Seemed like the shower would have to wait.

"Coulson is out there", Daisy whisper-yelled. "We are at the museum, you know. And there is a woman. They are talking."

Melinda frowned at her phone. That was what the big commotion was about? Phil talking to somebody? Phil talked all the time. Talking was basically his default setting. Daisy's bar for reasons to call her sure hung low these days.

"So?"

"No, you don't get it", Daisy's voice came through the speaker. "She hasn't rolled her eyes at him once. She doesn't even look like she wants to run away, May. This is biiiiiig."

There was some muffled giggling. Yeah, Daisy was probably right. Melinda didn't get it.

"Daisy, I've had a really long day", she said with a long-suffering sigh, "I'm gonna hang up know. Call me if something really world-shattering comes up. Bye."

"But, May..."

Melinda hung up. She rolled her shoulders and bent her spine until it gave a series of loud cracks. Shower. Now. And then maybe a cup of tea. She could order take-out. Maybe watch some mind-numbing tv-show. Yeah, that sounded divine.

And of course she didn't get that far. Just as Melinda ventured to the bathroom her mobile rang again, this time with the very distinct tune of Captain America. (Another personalized ringtone Daisy had put into her phone. This one was quite fitting.)

"This better be good, Phil. I had one hell of a day", she answered with a sigh.

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds. Then the sound of Phil taking a deep breath.

“Hey, sorry for bothering you. Listen, May, can we talk? I… I think I might be in love.”

_Oh._

 

Melinda stared at the phone in her hand. What?

"You think...you are in love? Are you serious right now?"

There was a short pause that she used to walk over to the couch and sat down, pulling a blanket over her legs. If she knew anything about Phil then that this talk would take while. Or be cut short because he got self-conscious and hung up and then she would either wait for him to call back or get annoyed and call him herself. Phil seemed to go with the long talk this time though.

"I just met the most incredible woman, May. She is beautiful and smart and she laughed at all my puns and I think she was really interested in the things I told her about Captain America and I don't know, I've never felt like this about anybody before, May. I think I'm in love."

Melinda scoffed. She loved Phil, she really did, he was her best friend. But sometimes it was just almost unbearable how incredibly naive this man was.

"Phil", she sighed, "I'm pretty sure you cannot be in love after spending less than an hour with this person."

"I really wanna see her again, May."

She could almost hear how he hunched his shoulders in defeat and his voice sounded so small, so hopeful and worried at the same time, it gave Melinda pause. She stood up from her place on the couch and began to walk slow circles around the living room.

"What do you know about her?", she asked slowly, frowning.

"Her name is Audrey", he said. There was a smile in his voice. Huh.

"She is a cellist for the New York Symphony Orchestra and she has a dog named Joseph."

"Anything else?"

"She...she's really kind, May. I lost Daisy at the museum again and she offered to help me look."

Melinda snorted at that. Of course he'd lost Daisy at the museum. He _always_ lost Daisy at the museum. And then he got all frantic and ran through all the rooms, combing the exhibitions and sometimes he gave her a defeated call to tell her that they got banned again. This time Daisy must have spent her time hiding from him and stalking Phil and this Audrey person. That must have been what Daisy's phone call had been really about. Now Melinda felt a little foolish for not listening to the girl. Phil's revelation blindsided her a little if she was being honest.

"What do I do now, May?", he asked, unsure again. "She gave me her number but when do I call?"

Melinda rubbed her temples. There was no way around this, was there? Of course Phil had dated from time to time in all the years they'd known each other. She just didn't know why he always came to her for advice. She wasn't exactly an expert in romantic relationships.

"You wait till tomorrow until you call her", she said finally. She knew him. It was highly probable that he toyed with the idea of calling this woman right now and fucked everything up in the process. "You wait till tomorrow evening, okay?"

Melinda walked another circle around the living room, twisting a stand of hair around a finger, thinking.

"Keep the call short. Ask her if she wants to go out on Friday and give her a time and a place. You tend to ramble when you nervous in case you didn't know."

A short laugh burst through the line and made Melinda smile. Now that she gave him instructions he seemed to relax about the whole ordeal.

"Where should I take her?"

There was an eagerness in his voice. He seemed genuinely excited now. It was nice to hear. She always loved when he got excited about something. Melinda could almost see his blue eyes sparkle and the broad grin on his face. She shook her head.

"Take her to the Noise and Funk. We know the food and the service is good, they'll probably have live music on Friday and Tripp will help you out if something goes wrong", she said, a slight frown tugging at her face.

There was a sigh on the other end.

"Thanks, May", he said, his voice now calm and sincere. "You are the best, you know that? I wouldn't know what I'd do without you."

Melinda snorted again.

"Oh, please", she grinned, rolling her eyes.

"No, really, I mean it. I would never be able to ask a woman out or decide what tie to wear to those boring faculty functions or know what movie to watch on rainy Sundays or ever be on time for important meetings without you."

"Good to know what impact I have on your life. Those ties are really a big issue for you, aren't they?"

He chuckled.

"Anyway, how was your day, May?"

It was sweet of him to ask. Anyone else would have forgotten that over the prospect of a big date. Melinda sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"I want to punch Tony Stark in his stupid face."

"You always want to punch Tony Stark in the face", he snorted and Melinda smiled. This was so much easier than talking about romance and dates.

"But this time I mean it."

"Come on, May, we both know that you secretly really love your job."

That earned him a sigh.

"I guess you are right."

He grinned at that, pleased that she admitted that he was right. She just knew it.

"I'm gonna let you go now, May. We both know that you want to drink tea and order take-out now."

And another smile.

"Got that right."

"I'm gonna call Audrey tomorrow", he said. She had no doubt that he had a goofy smile on his face.

"Good luck, Phil."

 

Melinda plugged in her phone and finally made her way to take a shower. She was happy for Phil. It was great that he put himself out there and took a chance. And she wanted him to be happy, obviously. He was her friend. Her best friend. She just couldn't shake this strange feeling she got about all this that settled in the pit of her stomach. She really hoped he wouldn't be too upset in case this whole thing didn't work out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! I love to hear from you. Any thoughts, ideas, feelings?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sweet peas!  
> Sorry this took so long. I hope this chapter makes up for it. On the one hand I'm somehow not pleased with this chapter at all, I really suck at dialogues, on the other hand I had so much fun writing this and I really hope you like reading it. <3

He was fifteen minutes early and couldn't stop fiddling with his tie. Phil was pretty sure he had never been so nervous in his life. What if he rambled like usual and she thought he was a complete nutjob? What if she didn't like the music? Or the food? What if she didn't come at all? What if she _did_?

Phil pulled his phone from his pocket for what felt the millionth time to check the time. His thumb hovered over the display. Maybe he should just cancel. He could fake a work emergency and push the date to next week. Or two weeks. Or three. God, he was nervous. His palms were sweating.

He toyed with the idea of calling May, rambling into the phone and be calmed by her voice in his ear. She always knew what to say. Even if it would probably be a "Don't be such a baby, Phil" in that case. He grinned at the thought.

He grinned and must have looked like a psycho to anybody walking past him.

"Phil?"

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, his face almost escalating in shock, making him whirl around and there she was - Audrey. She was wearing a bright yellow coat and a cream coloured cap. Her cheeks were slightly reddened by the cold air and she stood there a few meters away from him, a tentative smile ghosting her lips and Phil could do nothing than stare at her for a second. She was beautiful. She was here. She was really here. Oh, man.

"You came", he said unintelligently and he wanted to kick himself at the same time. Focus, Phil!

She looked at him and took another two steps forward, when he remembered to smile.

"I'm glad you're here", he tried again, gesturing to the entrance of the restaurant. "Shall we?"

He opened the door for her and they stepped inside.

 +++ 

Phil loved the Noise & Funk. Despite its name, it was not flashy or too modern or loud. It was neat little restaurant owned by a family in three generations, with wooden chairs, red-checkered table cloths, small flower arrangements and candles. Everything was tasteful and next to the bar was a corner where a band played jazz music on Fridays.

"Ah, there you are, Professor. I've been wondering for how long you would gonna stand out there in the cold and wait."

Antoine Tripplett was a young African-American man, with broad shoulders and an even broader smile. He had been in one of Phil's classes the last two semesters and was a good friend of Daisy's. He was an easy-going but hard-working young man. Phil liked him. He was glad that he was helping out in his family's restaurant tonight. It made Phil relax a little. Their evening was in good hands.

On the other hand, at Tripp’s offhand comment Phil felt Audrey's curious look on his back and his ears growing hot.

"Is our table ready?", he asked instead, trying to distract.

Tripp grinned and led them to Phil's favourite table in a corner. It was close enough that you could enjoy the music but not too close that it overpowered their conversation.

There was the usual bustle of coats being discarded, of menus being brought and wine being ordered. Phil sneaked a few glances at Audrey, hoping he was subtle but the way she smiled at him from time to time told him that she had caught him.

"You know him well?", Audrey asked while studying her menu, obviously better at starting a conversation than he was.

"Tripp was one of my students last year. His family owns this restaurant", Phil explained, nervously rapping his fingers against his thigh. He already knew what was good, what he would order and he wondered if it was too patronizing to recommend something to her. He wanted to impress her but he didn't want to come across as a show-off.

Luckily Tripp came back and took that choice off his hands. They ordered bread and salad and fish and steak and Tripp told a joke that made Audrey laugh.

"Very good choice, Professor", Tripp said, when he had finished noting their orders and something in his grin told Phil that he wasn't talking about his dinner choices. It took all his self-control not to blush too hard at Tripp's obvious wink in his direction.

Phil suddenly felt tongue-tied. His mind was blank, his stomach fluttering. What was he doing? He was messing everything up.

Just when he was opening his mouth, trying to think of something, anything, another person appeared at their table.

"Philip!"

Old Mr. Tripplett was Tripp's grandfather and a friendly man with white hair and arms that were still quite muscular for a man that was almost ninety years of age. As far as Phil knew he had retired from the business long ago, which didn't mean that the old man didn't help out in the restaurant, talking to the guests, making sure everything went smoothly and everybody was well fed and content when they left.

Phil smiled and stood up to shake the old man’s hand. He liked Tripp’s grandfather. He could tell the most interesting stories about World War II and always took some time to talk to Phil and Daisy or May when they had dinner here. (Mr. Tripplett was probably the only man in the world who would ever be allowed to kiss May’s hand. She would give him genuine smiles, the ones she rarely dug out, ask about his wife and health and always ordered what he recommended. Tripp had once mentioned to him after class that that usually made his grandfather’s night.)

„You are here for business, Philip? I hope it is going well.“

Phil’s smile widened a little at that. A business dinner.

„Ah, anything but, Mr. Tripplett“, he answered happily. „I’m here on a date.“

It still made him feel giddy to say that. He was here on a date with a beautiful woman.

"On a date?" The old man furrowed his brows, giving Audrey a scrutinizing look. "But this woman is not your wife?"

Phil reared back a little, before smiling widely at Mr. Tripplett's confusion.

"No, Audrey is my date, Mr. Tripplett."

Mr. Tripplett stepped a little closer to Phil, placed his hands on his hips, suddenly appearing rather large and intimidating. Phil had never noticed that in the man before.

"And what would your wife say, Philip? That you are on a romantic date with somebody other than herself?"

Phil felt his jaw drop.

"My- my _wife_?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Audrey pale and grip the napkin in her lap. His head spun a little. What was going on here? What was the man talking about?

"Mr. Tripplett. Sir, I'm not-"

"We are a family restaurant, Philip!", the old man boomed suddenly, gripping Phil's shoulder. "And I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in my house. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Phil's eyes widened, his cheeks and neck prickling. The people at the surrounding tables stopped their conversations and watched what unfolded at Phil's table. He tried to escape the man's iron grip but Mr. Tripplett only continued his rant.

"I want you to leave at once. You should go home and confess to Miss Melinda what you have done. I thought you were a decent man, Philip. Your wife will be devastated."

His wife- _Melinda?_ Phil almost choked on his own spit.

"But Mr. Tripplett, Melinda and I are not-"

He was cut off as the old man started to haul Phil forward, towards the doors.

"Never in my life would I have taken you for such a two-timing bastard!", Mr. Tripplett sneered, when Tripp came running from the kitchen. He shoved himself between Phil and his grandfather and subsequently broke the old man's hold on Phil's shoulder.

"Gramps! Gramps, stop! You're confused", he said and carefully put an arm around his grandfather. His voice turned soothing and quiet and he nodded at Phil to show that he had it under control and that Phil could go back to his table. The old man looked at his grandson, uncertainty suddenly written on his face. Phil took a couple of steps back towards his table where Audrey sat, face ashen, her hand clamped around the strap of her purse.

"Professor Coulson is not a two-timing bastard, Gramps", Tripp said and rubbed his shoulder, slowly leading him back to the kitchen. "He's not cheating on anybody. I know him, he's a good man."

Phil sat back down and tugged at this tie. It was awfully hot in the restaurant all of a sudden. The music had not stopped playing, thank goodness, but he could feel all eyes on him, curious looks burning into his back. He glanced at Audrey, who seemed to have shrunk in her chair and stared after the old Mr. Tripplett. This was terrible.

"I'm not married", Phil hurried to say, leaning towards her. "I swear I'm not married to Melinda May. She's my best friend. That's all. Friends. We have dinner here sometimes. To catch up. She likes the dessert. The chocolate mousse is divine. But that's all. Mr. Tripplett has it all wrong. I swear I'm not married or cheating on somebody. This is the first real date I've had in many months. Really. I promise. Oh, God."

This was a disaster. Phil rubbed his face. Surely Audrey would leave now, wouldn't she? He always messed everything up. He wanted to apologize again, when Tripp appeared at their table with the ordered basket of bread.

"I'm so sorry about Gramps, Professor", the young man said, worry edged onto his face. "He's getting old and I think he got his stuff mixed up and you know how much he likes Miss May..."

Phil rubbed his neck and smiled wobbly at Tripp.

"It's okay, Tripp." It wasn't the boy's fault anyway.

Tripp turned to Audrey, who studied them from her spot with guarded eyes. Phil sighed internally. There was no way he could ever recover from such a scene, was there? Daisy would have a field day if she ever found out about this.

"Professor Coulson is a good man and if he had gotten married to Miss May in the last couple of years, Daisy would have freaked out and then the whole city would know", Tripp said and nodded sagely. "I think it's very safe to say that he is not a two-timing bastard."

Phil groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

"Can we stop using the words "two-timing" and "bastard" in correlation with me?"

That brought a chuckle out of Audrey. Phil's head snapped in her direction. Tripp shot them a smile. _Tripp will help you out if something goes wrong._ May had been right.

"Your food's ready in a few. Sorry again", Tripp said and left.

Phil sighed. Audrey was still here, her hold on her purse relaxing.

"I'm sorry-", he started again but Audrey cut him off.

"So, you have a teaching assistant people think is your daughter and a best friend people think is your wife", she said and smiled at him broadly. "Any other woman in your life I should know about? A cleaning lady people think is your sister?"

Phil smiled sheepishly at her.

"May and I went to College together", he said as an explanation, drawing up his shoulders. "We've known each other for a very long time. I guess people come to the wrong conclusions."

She nodded like it was the most common thing in the world for people to mistake your random female friends for your wife. Like people accusing her date to cheat on their wives with her happened on her first dates on a regular basis.

"You come here quite often, don't you?"

Audrey looked at him over the rim of her wineglass.

"Not that often. Sometimes. With May. When we've both had a rough week. Or with Daisy, to celebrate the end of the semester or when she messed up some exam."

"You care a lot about them", she nodded.

"My folks died when I was starting College. I don't have any family left", he said. "Daisy and May are the closest thing I got."

God, he sounded whiny. Dead parents were not the thing you should bring up on a first date. Stupid, stupid! Phil pulled up his shoulders. He was the worst date ever.

But when he dared to look at Audrey again, her face had gone soft.

"My parents are gone too", she said gently. She seemed to get caught in a memory and her look was suddenly very far away.

Phil bit his lip and reached over the table to touch his fingers to hers.

"I'm sorry", he said. "Maybe let's talk about something happier?"

And they did.

 +++

 Time flies when you're having fun. And Phil had a lot of fun. After this disastrous beginning everything went perfectly. Audrey was amazing. They talked about music and she told him about her dog and her job at the Philharmonics. Phil told her about Daisy and about teaching at the university. The food was delicious, Tripp went out of his way to make sure everything went smoothly from there on and they laughed and smiled. At some point Phil had reached over the table to hold her hand and she hadn't pulled away. Phil was beaming. He didn't want this night to end.

But at some point dinner was eaten and the wine was gone and the candle on their table was burned down. Most of the other guests had left long ago and the band that had played in the corner packed up their instruments.

Phil sighed inwardly. He wanted to stay. He wanted to spend more time with Audrey, talk to her all night, have her close to him, maybe even kiss her. (Who was he kidding, he was dying to kiss her.) He was being ridiculous, wasn't he? May would roll her eyes at him.

He basically dragged his feet when paying, but gave Tripp a pat on the back and a huge tip that made the young man grin and give a mock salute. Phil helped Audrey into her coat and they left the restaurant slowly, Phil even daring to place his hand on the small of her back.

The night air outside was cool, a slight breeze tugging at Audrey's hair. It would be so easy to just reach out and put those dark, silky strands behind her ear again. He could just lean in... Audrey tiptoed and brushed her lips against his.

For a brief moment it was like fireflies dancing in his stomach, prickling, warming him up from the inside.

„I had a great time“, she said softly when she pulled away. She was still close enough that Phil could have counted the eyelashes that were framing her beautiful dark eyes if he hadn’t been so distracted.

„M-me too.“

He had. He did. He wanted to do this again. He stared at her, somewhat shellshocked, unmoving. Could he already ask her to go out with him again? Or was that too soon?

_You tend to ramble when you’re nervous in case you didn’t know._

And now he was rambling in his own head and his brain even provided May’s voice as commentary for it. Sweet. Phil inwardly shook his head at himself. He took a deep breath and reached for Audrey’s hand. She had just kissed him. He had a fighting chance, right?

„Would you maybe like to do this again sometime?“

He pulled up his shoulders.

„Maybe without me being accused of being married to another woman and all that?“

Audrey chuckled at that. It sounded like the most beautiful music he had ever heard.

„I’d like that.“

He felt a grin splitting his face. Way to seem like an overeager puppy, Phil.

Another gust of wind made Audrey shiver. It was getting late. He didn’t have any classes the next day, obviously, but he was way behind on grading essays. This would have to end. Even if he didn’t want it to.

„Can- can I walk you to your car?“

Audrey nodded and smiled. She squeezed his hand when a thought popped into Phil’s head.

"Oh, just a second!"

He ran hurried back inside the restaurant, up to Tripp who came out of the kitchen with a broom. Closing time was near.

"Forgot something, Professor?"

Phil smiled sheepishly.

"Is it too late to send your delivery boy with some "Tripp-le threat chocolate extravaganza" to May's place?"

Tripp chuckled lightly.

"It's never too late to send Miss May some dessert", Tripp grinned, all his teeth on display. "Want me to pass a note?"

Phil grabbed a notepad from the counter and scribbled a quick Thank You on it, handing it over with his credit card. Tripp's grin broadened even more, taking the note.

"Miss May will be pleased.“

"I sure hope so. I owe her one", Phil grinned, before taking back his credit card. May deserved some extra chocolate. Phil felt like walking on air when he went back outside to meet Audrey, whom he offered his arm to. She looked up at him, smiling softly, which did something funny to Phil's stomach. He covered her hand with his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

This had been the most amazing evening, even with some small hiccups. And it wasn't quite over yet. Really, Melinda May was the most amazing person. For listening to him, calming him, for talking some sense into him, for helping him setting this up in the first place, she deserved all the chocolate in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muhahahaha! Everybody-thinks-we-are-married-trope? Check! God, I had a blast writing this scene. What do you think? Comments and Kudos are always appreciated! <3


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